Unflappable, analytical and highly disciplined. The man taking the reins at Apple may not fill the role of brilliant visionary that Apple fanatics have assigned to Steve Jobs, but analysts say veteran executive Timothy Cook has the right qualities to run the trendsetting technology company for at least the next five months.

The 48-year-old Cook is "not a product innovator," said Brian Marshall, an investment analyst who follows Apple for Broadpoint AmTech. "But he runs a very tight ship."

Cook has been running many aspects of the ship since Jobs hired him in 1998 to overhaul the company's manufacturing and distribution networks, which were notoriously disorganized at the time. A former operations executive at Compaq, Intelligent Electronics and IBM, Cook is widely credited with streamlining Apple's production systems, cutting bloated inventories and replacing Apple factories with contract manufacturers, while ensuring that supplies and products are delivered efficiently around the world.

Now, as Jobs embarks on a medical leave until the end of June, analysts say Cook may be among the leading candidates to fill the Apple chief executive's post, should Jobs decide to permanently cut back on his role at the company.

Advertisement

As executive vice president for sales and operations, Cook filled in for Jobs once before, when the celebrated CEO took two months off to recuperate from cancer surgery in 2004. Jobs rewarded Cook with a promotion to chief operating officer in 2005, the company's No. 2 job and the position he's held ever since. In addition to sales and production, Cook also heads Apple's Macintosh division, which has steadily increased its share of the U.S. market for personal computers.

With a courtly manner and quiet Southern demeanor, the Alabama-raised Cook doesn't shout or pound the table, according to those who've seen him at work. But he's been known to fire off e-mails at 4:30 a.m., hold routine management meetings via conference call on Sunday afternoons, and subject subordinates to slow, determined interrogations.

A recent article in Fortune magazine described a management meeting in which Cook was discussing a problem with Apple's Asian operations. "This is really a problem," Cook reportedly said. "Someone should be in China driving this."

Thirty minutes later, Cook turned to a subordinate and calmly inquired: "Why are you still here?"

The man immediately left the meeting, the magazine said; he drove straight to the airport and flew to China without a change of clothes.

Up close, Cook is personable enough, according to Bajarin and others. But he keeps a low profile outside the Apple organization, speaking at investor conferences while rarely giving interviews to the press. An Apple spokesman said Cook would have no comment Wednesday.

Cook reportedly is single, lives in Palo Alto and is described as an avid hiker, bicyclist and fitness buff. Fortune reported that his office is decorated with photos of Bob Dylan and Robert Kennedy, as well as memorabilia from Auburn University, where Cook earned his bachelor's degree in industrial engineering.

He's also got an MBA from Duke University. But although he's one of Apple's highest-paid executives, with stock options that made him a millionaire many times over, he shares Jobs' preference for wearing jeans and sneakers to work. Cook reportedly favors shoes made by Nike, where he's been a board member since 2005.

Cook's penchant for long hours has prompted his own father to call him a "workaholic," according to a recent story in the Robertsdale Independent, his family's hometown paper in Robertsdale, Ala. The paper also reported that the middle son of Donald and Geraldine Cook calls home dutifully every weekend, "no matter where he is."

He may have to work even harder to make time for those calls, as he assumes even more responsibility for day-to-day operations at Apple. But Bajarin said he believes Cook has "the skill set and the confidence of Apple employees to carry the company forward" while Jobs deals with health issues.

While the boss is gone, Apple employees and investors will be watching Cook closely. Some analysts suggest that other executives are better positioned as potential successors to Jobs, but Marshall said Cook's operational skills could carry him to the next level.

"I view this next six months as Tim Cook's trial period as CEO," Marshall said.